Together We Can
by LittleSass
Summary: One little event can determine how the things in the future will play out. One small decision can cause everything to play out differently. Neal's decision when August W. Booth comes to visit him as he goes to sell the watches changes the way certain people's lives play out, especially those closest to him.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **Hi guys! So I had an idea running in my head for a little while I just wanted to get it out. Depending on the feedback, I may or may not make this into a full on story. For those of you reading my other story I will try to update it soon, but there are no promises as to when it will be done. I'm so sorry but I just have a little bit of writer's block as to how to write the ending. Anyways thank you for reading and please let me know what you think.

* * *

The elevator opens and out walks a blonde woman in a hot pinkish dress. She makes her way around the fancy restaurant until she finds a man at a table she assumes is her date for this evening.

The man stands up and offers his hand. "Emma?"

"Ryan?" She takes his hand and gives it a firm shake. She allows him to help her into her seat. "You look really good."

Ryan chuckles a little as holds Emma's chair for her. "Well it is the internet. Pictures can be..."

"Fake, updated, taken from a Victoria Secret catalog." Emma finishes for him which got them both to chuckle just a little bit. "So..."

"So, tell me something about yourself Emma." Ryan says to get the conversation going.

"Uh, well today's my birthday." She decides that information should suffice for the time being considering that she does not really want to give out personal information.

Ryan looks at Emma a little confused for a second. "And you're spending it with me. What about your friends."

"Kind of a loner."

"And you don't like your family." Ryan tries guessing.

"No family to like." Emma answered, keeping her responses short and to the point.

"Oh come on. Everyone has family."

Emma decides she better elaborate a little more. "Technically, yeah. Not everyone knows who they are. Ready to run yet?"

"Oh not a chance. You, Emma, are by far the sexiest, friendless orphan that I have ever met."

This gets her to laugh. "Okay. Your turn. No, wait, let me guess. Um, you are handsome, charming..."

"Go on." Ryan says, liking where she seems to be going with this.

"The kind of guy who, and now stop me if I get this wrong." Emma warns him before changing her light tone to something more serious. "Embezzled from your employer, got arrested, and skipped town before they were able to throw your ass in jail."

Ryan gives a nervous chuckle. "What?"

Emma kind of ignores the question and continues. "And the worst part of all this is your wife. Your wife loves you so much that she bailed you out. And how do you repay that loyalty? You're on a date."

"Who are you?"

"The chick who put up the rest of the money."

All of a sudden everything makes sense. "You're a bail bondsman."

"Bail bonds person." Emma says, stressing the fact that she is indeed a woman.

A second later, Ryan lifts the table and turns it over as a distraction as he tried to run away.

"Ugh, really?" Emma asks herself as she sees that he is making this a little more difficult than it needs to be.

Ryan makes a mad dash for his car while Emma is calmly following his path. He gets in his car and rapidly tries to start the car and move but fails. He opens his door to notice a stopper on his back tire.

Realizing the situation he is in and that he doesn't really have an escape, he begs for his freedom. "You don't have to do this. I've got money."

Emma scoffs at the man in front of her. "No you don't. And if you did, you should give it to your wife to take care of your family."

"What the hell you know about family, huh?" He shoots back, knowing that it must be a sore subject.

She doesn't think twice about it as she takes two steps forward and bangs the guys head against the steering wheel of the car, knocking him unconscious.

* * *

Emma walks into her apartment with a bag in hand as she takes her heels off. She takes a quick seat in a chair to relax even if for a moment. Not even five minutes later, she hears the door being unlocked and opened.

"Em!" The person called out as they walked in.

"I'm in the kitchen."

A man makes his way into the kitchen to find Emma in her seat, looking exhausted.

"Long day?" He asks.

"The guy was an ass who tried to run away. I ended up slamming his head against the steering wheel." She answers as she rises from her seat and makes her way over to the man in front of her, wrapping her arms around his neck."

"That's my girl. I will admit that I am a little jealous that he got to go on a date with you, even if it was a fake one, because you look absolutely beautiful tonight."

Emma smiles before leaning forward to press a kiss to the man's lip.

"Happy Birthday, babe."

"Thank you." She gives him another quick peck on his lips before untangling herself from the man before her.

He goes over and pulls the box out of his bag that holds a cupcake.

As he is doing this, Emma speaks up. "How was your day at work?"

"Boring as always. I wish I could have spent today with you. I'm sorry again for not being able to take off."

"Don't worry about it. I know how your boss can be. At least you're here with me right now."

Once they finished talking, the man has just finished lighting the candle that was placed on top of the cupcake. Emma makes her way over to the man and steps into his waiting arms as they both turn to the lit candle.

"Make a wish, Em."

Emma closes her eyes before leaning over and blowing the candle out. Just the candle was blown, the doorbell rang.

"Were you expecting anyone?"

"No, you?"

"No." The man left Emma's side and went to open the door. In front of him stood a little boy around ten years old. "Um, can I help you?"

"Are you Neal Cassidy?"

The man was confused. "Yeah, who are you?"

"My name's Henry. I'm your son."

Neal's eyes went wide. "Emma?" He called.

Just as Emma reached the door, Henry made his way inside.

"Whoa, wait kid. Kid! We don't have a son. Where are your parents?" Emma asks.

Henry turns and faces the two who lead him to this world. "Ten years ago, did you give a baby up for adoption?"

Neal and Emma look at one another as they begin to recall the events from ten years ago. Realization begins to dawn on them as they in fact do remember giving their son up.

"That was me."

"Can you give us a minute?" Emma pulls her boyfriend into the bathroom with her.

They both slowly begin to panic as they take in the situation before them. The little boy that they had given away ten years ago has showed up on their doorstep.

"What is he doing here? I thought it was a closed adoption."

"It was." Emma confirmed.

"Well what are we going to do?"

"How am I supposed to know? I'm just as shocked as you are if not more."

From the other side of the door they could hear Henry shout out. "Do you have any juice? Never mind I found it."

"Maybe we should just find out what he wants and then take him back to his parents." Neal suggested, knowing that there isn't all that much more that they could do.

The two adults nodded to each other and then walked back out to confront the kid about coming to them.

Before either could get a word out as they were still in shock at the boy in their kitchen, Henry spoke up. "Hey, we should get going."

"Going where?" Emma asks him as she crosses her arms and waits for the boy's answer.

"I want you to come home with me."

Emma's mouth fell open at the sentence. "That's it, kid. I'm calling the cops."

"Then I'll tell them you kidnapped me."

"And they'll believe you because we're your biological parents." Neal realized.

"Yep."

"You're not going to do that."

"Try me." Henry challenged.

Emma looks at the boy almost amused at how much he wants them to go with him. Almost. "You're pretty good, but here's the thing there's not a lot that I'm great at in life. I have one skill, let's call it a superpower. I can tell when anyone is lying, and you, kid, are."

"Wait, please don't call the cops on me. Please. Come home with me."

Neal decides that it may be time to step in before Emma's loses her patience. He walks over and kneels in front of Henry. "Okay, bud, where's home?"

"Storybrooke, Maine."

"Storybrooke? Seriously?" Emma asks from behind them, not really believing it.

When Henry replied with a yes, Neal turned around to look at Emma. She did not look happy at all. "Alright, bud, let's get you home."

* * *

The three are on the road in the yellow bug that Emma and Neal have had for so many years. Neal was sitting in the driver's seat and Emma in the passenger's seat while Henry sat in the back.

"I'm hungry. You wanna stop somewhere?" Henry pipes up from his spot.

"This isn't a road trip, we aren't stopping for snacks." Emma tells him before Neal could say that he too was hungry.

"Why not?"

"Quit complaining kid. We could have put your butt back on a bus and still can."

"You know I have a name? It's Henry." He was beginning to get annoyed that Emma keeps referring to him as kid.

Neal looked through the rear view mirror and saw the boy flipping through a large book. "Okay, Henry, what is that?"

"I'm not sure you guys are ready, just yet." He answered, not even looking up from the pages.

"Ready for what? A bunch of fairy tales?" The blonde woman could not think of why a little kid felt that she was not ready to hear about made up stories.

"They're not fairy tales. They're true. Everything in this book actually happened."

"Of course it did."

"Use your superpower. Tell if I'm lying."

The truth is that Emma had no idea whether or not this boy was lying or not. "Just because you believe in something, doesn't mean it's true."

"That's exactly what makes it true." Henry counters. "You should know more than anything."

"Why's that?"

"Because you're in this book."

"Aww, kid, you've got problems."

"Yep and you're gonna fix them."

Emma was confused more so now than she was before. She turned to her boyfriend who had the same expression as she did.

* * *

"Welcome to Storybrooke." Neal read as they drove past the sign and into the city.

"Okay, kid. How about an address?"

"44 not-telling-you street."

"Stop the car, Neal."

Neal quickly stopped the car and they all climbed out.

"Look, kid, it's been a long night and it's almost 8:15?" She is definitely not in the best mood right now and he is not helping her in any way. Neal didn't really like how this is affecting his girlfriend and so far is not really sure what they are doing or what Henry is talking about.

"That clock hasn't moved all my life. Time's frozen here."

"Excuse me?"

"The Evil Queen did it with her curse. She sent everyone from the Enchanted Forest here."

With those words, Neal's ears perked up a little more; however he did try to keep acting normal as to avoid any conflicts between any of them.

"Hang on. The Evil Queen sent a whole bunch of fairy tale creatures here?"

"Yeah. And now they're trapped."

"Frozen in time and stuck in Storybrooke, Maine. That's what you're going with." Slowly, Emma was beginning to change her mind and was about to tell Neal to take her back home right now.

"It's true." Henry insisted.

"Then why doesn't everyone just leave?"

"They can't. If they try, bad things will happen."

"Henry! What are you doing here?" A man with glasses and an umbrella walks up to the trio with a dog by his side. "Is everything alright?"

"I'm fine Archie."

"Who's this?"

"Just two people trying to give him a ride home." Emma tells him, hoping and praying that if this guy recognizes Henry, then he could direct him to his house.

"These are my parents, Archie."

"Oh, I see."

"You know where he lives?" Neal asks the man, Henry refers to as Archie. He could tell that Emma is getting tired of all this.

"Yeah, sure. Right up this street. The mayor's house is the biggest one on the block."

"You're the mayor's kid?"

"Maybe." Henry avoids Emma's stare and looks down at his shoes.

"Hey, where were you today, Henry? You missed your session."

"Oh, I forgot to tell you. I went on a field trip."

"Henry, what have I told you about lying. Giving into one's dark side, doesn't accomplish anything."

"Okay, we should really be getting him home." Neal states as he and Emma were becoming a bit uncomfortable.

As soon as Archie was on his way, Emma turned to Henry. "So that's your shrink?"

"I'm not crazy."

"We didn't say that, bud. We're just trying to understand what's going on." Neal explained trying to diffuse the situation before it even began to get riled up.

"I was just trying to point out that he didn't seem that cursed to me. He's just trying to help you."

"He's the one that needs help because he doesn't know."

"That he's a fairy tale character?" She finished.

"None of them do. They don't know who they are."

"Convenient, I'll play. Who's he supposed to be?" She wonders as they all pile back into the car.

"Jiminy Cricket."

"Right the lying thing. Thought your nose grew a little bit."

"I'm not Pinocchio."

"Of course you're not because that would be ridiculous."

Neal has been quiet most of the time because he was trying to process everything that Henry was telling them. Once Henry began talking about the Enchanted Forest, Neal started to understand because he once came from that land and knew what magic could do. After thinking it over, he decided to distance himself as much as he could from all this magic business because that's what brought him to this world in the first place.

Emma noticed her boyfriend's quietness and reached over for his hand. "Are you alright? You're awfully quiet tonight. I feel like I'm dealing with all of this on my own."

"Yeah, I'm alright. Sorry about that. Just thinking."

"What about?"

"I'll let you know when I have that figured out." He answered with a small smile before bringing Emma's hand up to his lips and placing a kiss on the back of it.

It wasn't long before the three of them were pulling up to a giant white house with a gate in front of it. And the pleas begin once again as they step out and walk up to the door.

"Please don't take me back there."

"We have to Henry. Your parents must be worried sick about you."

"I don't have parents. Just a mom and she's evil."

"Evil? That's a bit extreme isn't it?"

"She is. She doesn't love me. She only pretends to."

"Kid, I'm sure that's not true." Emma says as her face falls slightly by the boy's confession. It reminds her a little bit of how she felt each time she was bounced from foster home to foster home.

The door swings open. "Henry!" A woman rushes out and heads for the kid while a man follows right behind her. She quickly reaches Henry and engulfs him in a hug that he does not return. "Are you okay? Where have you been? What happened?" It seems like rapid fire questions before the woman takes notice of Emma and Neal.

"I found my real mom." Henry tells her as he rushes past them and into the house.

"You're Henry's birth mother?" Emma reaches behind her for Neal's hand for some support in what she feels will not be a pretty conversation with the mayor.

"Hi." Emma responds hesitantly.

"I'll go check on the lad and make sure he's okay." The man who was with the mayor says.

"How would you like a glass of the best apple cider you've ever tasted?"

"Got anything stronger?" Emma asks, knowing that with everything that has happened today, she definitely needs a drink.

"Come on in, both of you." The mayor invites them in as she goes straight to her kitchen to grab three glasses. "So may I ask who you are?" She looks to the man next to Emma, waiting for an answer.

"Um, I'm Henry's father, Neal Cassidy."

"How did he find us?" Emma questions, breaking the awkwardness that ensued as soon as the other woman realized that both of Henry's birth parents were here.

"No idea." She begins to pour the drinks into the glasses. "When I adopted him, he was only three weeks old. Records were sealed. I was told that the birth parents didn't want any contact."

"You were told right."

"Will I have to worry about you two?"

"Absolutely not."

Madam Mayor began to lead Emma to her office. "I'm sorry he dragged the two of you out of your lives. I really have no idea what's gotten into him."

"It's okay. He's been having a rough time. It happens."

"You have to understand, ever since becoming mayor, balancing things have become sort of tricky. You have a job I presume."

"Yes we keep busy."

"Imagine keeping another one on top of it. That's being a single mom. So I push for order. Am I strict? I suppose. I want Henry to excel i life. I don't think that makes me evil, do you?"

"I'm sure he's just saying that because of the fairy tale thing."

"What fairy tale thing?"

"Oh you know his book. How he thinks everyone is a cartoon character from it. Like his shrink is Jiminy Cricket."

The mayor seemed confused. "I'm sorry but I don't have no idea what you're talking about."

"You know what? It's none of our business. He's your kid and we should be heading back."

"Of course." She led the two out of her house and allowed them to leave.

* * *

"What do you think about all of this?" Emma turned to her boyfriend waiting for what he has to say.

"I don't know, Em. I mean he seems so passionate and so sure about all of this." Neal had a feeling what all of this is about. He had a feeling that they needed to say but he also knew that he couldn't force Emma to do anything she didn't want to do.

"Oh come on. Seriously, Neal. He thinks everyone in town is a character from all the fairy tales we grew up learning about."

"I know it's far-fetched Emma, but maybe it's a coping mechanism for him. I mean he did say that he thinks that his own mother, at least his mother who adopted him, only pretends to love him. He needs something to hold on to."

"Yeah it's just..." She let her sentence hang when she noticed something in the back. "That sneaky bastard."

"What?"

Emma reached into the back seat and pulled the book that Henry seemed so engrossed in on the ride her. Neal looked over to the book she was holding.

"Neal!" Emma shouted when she looked up and saw a wolf in the middle of the road.

Neal sharply turned the wheel to avoid the wolf, but ended up knocking the car into the Storybrooke sign and knocking them unconscious.

Emma woke up to a whistling sound not too far away. She sat up from her laying position on the bed and looked over to the source of the sound.

"What are you looking at, sister?" A man from the cell next to her asked.

"Hey Leroy, manners. We have a guest." A man on the other side of the bars lectured.

Emma looked around her for a second until she noticed Neal who seemed to be half asleep in a chair right by her cot. It wasn't long before he began to stir and she made her way over to him.

"So you're really Henry's parents. How lovely for him to have you both back in his life." The man continued.

"Actually we were just dropping him off." She buried her head into the crook of Neal's neck to feel some sort of comfort that she was craving. She didn't know what was going on and why her head was throbbing a little.

"I wouldn't blame you. They're all brats." The cynic man next to them said.

"Well I'd give anything for one." The man on the outside with gray hair and a white beard said. "My wife and I tried many years for one, but he was not meant to be."

"Leroy, if I'm going to let you out, you need to behave." The man that Emma recognized from last night as the sheriff. "Put on a smile and stay out of trouble."

"Seriously?" Emma walked closer to the bars and looked at the man.

"Regina's drinks are a little stronger than we thought."

"Hey. I wasn't drunk." Neal told them, reminding everyone that he is in fact also in the room. "There was a wolf in the middle of the road."

"A wolf? Right." The sheriff played along, though it was obvious that he did not believe them.

"Graham! Henry's run away again." She stopped short when she recognized the blonde woman and her boyfriend in the cell. "What are they doing here? Do you know where he is?"

"Lady, I haven't seen him since we dropped him off at your house. And I have a pretty good alibi."

"Well he wasn't in his room this morning."

"Did you try his friends?"

"He doesn't really have any. He's kind of a loner." Emma couldn't help but think that she had described herself exactly the same just yesterday.

"Every kid has friends. Did you check his computer? If he's close to someone he could be emailing them."

"And you know this how?"

The two men in the room just continued to sit back and watch this back and forth of question and answer between the two women.

"Finding people is what I do. Here's an idea. How about you guys let us out and I'll help you find him."

They soon found themselves all back at Regina's house, looking through Henry's computer. "Smart kid." Emma noted. "He cleared his inbox. I'm smart too. I have a hard disk recovery utility that I like to use."

"I'm a bit old-fashioned in my techniques. Hounding the pavement, knocking on doors."

"You're on salary, I get paid on delivery, hounding the pavement is not a luxury I get." She says as she continues to work on the task at hand. "Huh, there's a receipt on a website, Who' . It's expensive, he have a credit card?"

"He's ten." Regina says in a tone of voice that says of course not.

"Well he used one. Let's pull up a transaction record. Hmm? Mary Margaret Blanchard. Who's Mary Margaret Blanchard?"

"Henry's teacher."

"You mean he took his teacher's credit card to pay for a website in order to find us?" Neal asks.

"Looks like it."

* * *

They all made their way to the school in town, and Regina wasted no time in questioning the teacher in front of her.

"Miss Mills, what are you doing here?" Miss Blanchard asks.

"Where's my son?"

"Henry, I assumed he was home sick with you."

The mayor looked at Mary Margaret as if she could not believe that she just said that. "Do you think I would be here if he was? Did you give Henry your credit card so he could find her?" She nodded her head over to Emma.

"I'm sorry who are you?"

"The woman who gave him up for adoption. And that man right next to her is the man who impregnated her."

"You don't know anything about this, do you?" Emma concludes as she watches Mary Margaret begin to dig through her purse, probably looking for the credit card in question.

"No, unfortunately, i don't." When she finds her wallet and opens it, she finds it empty of her credit cards. "Clever boy, I never should have given hims that book."

"What in the hell is this book I keep hearing about?" Regina asks, furious that she cannot find her son and also that she has no idea what everyone is referring to.

"Some old stories I gave him. As you know, Henry is a very special boy. So smart, so creative. And as you might have noticed, lonely. He needed it."

"What he needs is a dose of reality. This is a waste of time." Regina states as she begins walking away, knocking aside a stack of books. "Have a nice trip back to Boston." She says to Emma as she passes by her.

Neal is the first one down on the floor as he helps pick up the fallen books. "Sorry for the trouble."

"It's ok, I feel as if this is partially my fault."

"If you don't mind my asking, how is the book supposed to help?"

"What do you think stories are for? These stories are classic. There's a reason we know all of them. They're a way for us to deal with our world. It doesn't always make sense. See Henry hasn't had the easiest life."

"Yeah, she's kind of a hard ass." Emma agrees.

"No, it's more than her. He's like any adopted child. He struggles with the question that they all do. Why would anyone give me away?" It takes less than a second for Mary Margaret to realize what she had just said. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean in any way to judge you."

"It's okay." Emma grabbed Neal's hand to ground herself.

"Look I gave the book to him because I wanted Henry to have the most important thing that anyone can have. Hope. Believing in even the possibility of a happy ending is a very powerful thing."

"You know where he is, don't you?"

"You might want to check his castle." Mary Margaret hints.

* * *

The two adults quietly walked up to Henry and took a seat on either side of him.

"You left this in my car." Emma hands Henry his book. "Still hasn't moved, huh?" She takes notice of town's clock tower that Henry is looking at."

"I was hoping that when I brought you back, things would change here. That the final battle would begin."

"I'm not fighting any battles, kid."

"Yes you are. You're here because it's your destiny. You're gonna bring back the happy endings."

"You sound so sure of this Henry." Neal observed.

"I am sure of it. Like I said it's her destiny."

"Would you cut it with the book crap?"

"You don't have to be hostile. You know you like me, I can tell."

Neal couldn't help but laugh at that, which in turn earned him a punch in the arm and caused him to turn serious once more.

"You're just pushing me away because I make you feel guilty." Henry continues. Emma expression changes, but Henry gives them both a smile. "It's okay. I know why you gave me away. You wanted to give me my best chance."

Emma and Neal paused and looked at one another. They wondered how he knew exactly what they were thinking when they gave him up. "How do you know that?"

"It's the same reason Snow White gave you away."

"Listen to me, kid. I'm not in any book. I'm a real person and I'm no savior. But you're right about one thing, we wanted you have your best chance. But that's not with us." Each of their expressions turned sad. The two adults because they felt as if they were giving up their kid once again while Henry felt as if another person in his life was leaving him to fend for himself.

"Come on, let's go."

"Please don't take me back there. Just stay with me for one week that's all I ask. One week and you'll see I'm not crazy."

"Bud, we have to get you back to your mom." Neal says knowing that he may have sat back for a little too long.

"You don't know what it's like with her. My life sucks."

"You wanna know what sucking is, being left abandoned on the side of the freeway. My parents didn't even bother to drop me off at a hospital. I ended up in the foster system until I was three, but they had their own kid, but they sent me back." Emma retaliated, as her voice began to crack as she began to relive some of those moments in her mind.

"Em." Neal lightly pulled her arm to get her to let it go. "Come on."

"No, Neal. He needs to hear this. Look, your mom is trying her best. I know it's hard and I know sometimes you think she doesn't love you but at least she wants you."

"Your parents didn't leave you on the side of the freeway that's just where you came through." He reminded them of his theory.

"What?"

"The wardrobe. When you went through the wardrobe you appeared in the street. Your parents were trying to save you from the curse."

"Sure they were. Come on Henry." Emma walked over to Neal, took his hand in hers and led them back into town.

Neal just allowed Emma to walk and not talk about it. He knew that she probably wouldn't want to talk about it right now, especially with Henry with them. As they walked, Henry caught up to them and grabbed Emma's other hand. He couldn't help but smile just a little thinking for one moment that they were a family.

* * *

"Thank you." Regina said after she watched Henry walk right past her and into the house. Emma had walked Henry up to the door herself as Neal waited by the side of the road.

"No problem."

"He seems to have taken quite a shine to you."

"You know it's kind of crazy. Yesterday was my birthday and when I blew out the candle on this cupcake I bought myself, I made a wish. I wished that Neal and I would have something that I felt we have been missing but couldn't think of what it was. Then Henry showed up at our door."

Regina looked as if she couldn't even bother to care for anything that Emma had just said. " I hope there is no misunderstanding here."

"I'm sorry?"

"Don't mistake all of this as an invitation back into his life. Miss Swan you made a decision ten years ago and in the last decade where you have been...well who knows what you have been doing, I've changed every diaper, soothed every fever, endured every tantrum. You may have given birth to him but he is my son." The mayor said firmly.

"I was not..."

"No, you don't get to speak." Regina forcefully interrupted. "You don't get to speak, you don't get to do anything. You gave up that ride when you tossed him away. Do you know what a closed adoption is? It's what you asked for. You have no legal right to Henry and you're going to be held to that. So, I suggest you get in your car and leave this town because if you don't, I will destroy you if it is the last thing I do." She finished with a threat. "Goodbye, Miss Swan."

Just as Regina was about to step back into her house, Emma stops her. "Do you love him?"

"Excuse me?"

"Henry, do you love him?"

"Of course I love him."

* * *

Emma and Neal are following a road to where they were directed to find a place to stay for a few days. As sson as they entered, they could hear two women arguing with one another.

"Excuse me, we would like a room, please." Neal states before the two arguing people could disappear.

"Really?" The older woman looked at them extremely surprised. After getting over her surprised, the lady gathered her bearings. "Would you like a forest view or a square view? Normally there would be an upgrade fee for the square view but I'll wave it."

"The square view is fine."

"Okay, so what's the name?"

"Swan. Emma, Swan."

"Emma." Everyone turned to the see a man who had just spoken. "What a lovely name."

"Thanks."

"And you?" The man turned to Neal.

Neal was frozen in place at the sight before him. He could not believe what he was seeing. Suddenly everything that Henry was talking about, made some sense to him. Neal continued to stare at the man until Emma nudged him with her shoulder.

"Neal. Neal Cassidy."

"It's all here." The woman, who they assumed was Granny of Granny's Bed and Breakfast, handed the man a roll of cash.

"Yes, of course it is." He reached forward to grab the money and then turned back to the couple. "You two enjoy your stay."

"Who's that?"

"Mr. Gold. He owns the place."

"The inn?" Emma inquired.

"No, the town. So how long will you two be with us?"

"A week. Just a week."

"Great. Welcome to Storybrooke." Granny says as she hands the key to Emma.

Neal is still standing and staring at the door that Mr. Gold had just exited from. He jumped a little when Emma tapped him on the shoulder to notify them that they could head up to their room now. "You okay? You look like a saw a ghost or something."

"Yeah, it was something alright. Anyways let's head up."

Once they reached their room, they both went straight to the bed and laid side by side to take a moment to relax.

"So what made you change your mind about staying, Em?"

She turns over and lays her head on his chest. "I don't know. It's kind of hard to explain. I just saw him and he looked so sad and I just had this feeling that I had to see what was causing him all this despair and why he would go through so much to find us."

"It may be your maternal instincts kicking in. You want the best for him."

"Yeah, maybe. Or maybe I just want to piss off Miss Madam Mayor. When she says that I shouldn't say, it kind of made me want to stay more."

"It wouldn't surprise me, but I know you, Emma. Somewhere deep inside you do care for him."

"That's why we gave him up in the first place, right, Neal? To give him his best chance to be happy."

"Of course we did. There really wasn't all that much we could do in the life we were living when he was born."

"What do you think about all of this?"

"I think it really couldn't hurt all that much to stay and see what he is talking about. I'm just afraid that when we leave, it may be too hard."

"I know but I can't really get myself to leave this town just yet."

"I know what you mean. Look it's been a long day. What do you say we get ready for bed and talk more about this tomorrow?"

"That sounds amazing." Emma picks her head up off Neal's chest and pecks his lips. When she pulls back she looks into his eyes. "I'm so glad you're here with me."

"There's no place I'd rather be."

* * *

**A/N:** Just a quick note to let you know that if this story is continued many things will be explained later. Also if I continue would you guys like it if I write like this. By this I mean taking parts from the episode and changing things a little or adding other things? Please let me know. Thank you!


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Thank you guys so much for the support that you gave the last chapter. Because of it, I have decided to continue this story. I don't know how often I will be able to update at this point, but I will try to update as often as I can. So hopefully you all can bear with me for now. Once again, thank you. I hope you guys like this next chapter.

* * *

The second Emma wakes up, she hopes that everything from the day before had been a dream. She was hoping that she would be waking up in bed next to her boyfriend back at their apartment. Unfortunately, once she opened her eyes and noticed that she was not in her room, she realized that the events from the previous day were real.

She sits up and tries to get her head on straight while planning her to do list for the day. It isn't long when she hears shuffling from beside her to see Neal staring back at her.

"Good morning." He says sleepily.

"Morning." She replies, leaning over and pecking his cheek. "So I've been thinking. What are we doing, Neal? Henry believes that everyone here is supposed to be a fairy tale character. How are we supposed to help him?"

"Whoa, slow down, Em. I we just got up, no need to dive right into heavy issues. I don't know what we're going to do, but for now, why don't we just play things by ear, okay? We'll let Henry lead the way for now and then we can figure out what we are able to do from there. Sound like a plan?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Good. Now let's pretend it's just a normal day. Get ready and we can go down to that diner for breakfast. My treat."

"That sounds nice."

In the midst of getting ready, the couple hear a knock at the door. Emma goes to answer it.

"Did you know the honey crisp tree is the most vigorous and hearty of all apple trees?" Behind the door Emma finds Regina with a basket of apples. "It can survive temperatures as low as forty below and keep growing. It can weather any storm. I have one that I have tended to since I was a little girl. And to this day, I have yet to try anything more delicious than the fruit it offers." Regina says as she offers an apple to Emma, who is still confused about the mayor showing up in their room.

"Thanks."

"I'm sure you'll enjoy them on your ride home."

"Oh, we're not leaving yet." Neal pipes up from his spot on the bed, getting up and walking over to Emma's side.

"Excuse me?"

"We've decided to stay awhile."

"I'm not so sure that's a good idea. Henry has enough issues. He doesn't need you confusing him."

"All due respect, Madam Mayor. The fact that you've threatened me twice in the last twelve hours makes me want to stay more." Emma replies.

"Since when were apples a threat?" Regina retorts, trying to appear innocent.

"I can read between the lines."

"We're sorry, Miss Mills, but we just want to make sure that Henry's okay." Neal explains.

"He's fine. Any problems he has are being taken care of."

Emma becomes skeptical. "What does that mean?"

"It means, I have him in therapy. It's all under control. Take my advice, Miss Swan. Only one of us knows what's best for Henry."

"Yeah, I'm starting to think that, too."

"It's time for you to go."

Without even blinking an eye, Emma shoots back. "Or what?"

"Don't underestimate me, Miss Swan. You have no idea what I'm capable of." And with that, Regina turns on her hills and walks away.

Emma closes the door and turns back to her boyfriend. "Therapy? She has the kid in therapy? What kind of mother needs to send her son to a shrink for having an imagination? This is what I'm talking about, Neal."

"Weren't you the one questioning his imagination not too long ago?"

"Yes, I was questioning it, but that's because I want to understand it. That's why we are still here instead of back on the road to New York. She's making it seem as if he is crazy for even having those ideas in his head."

Neal could tell that this was beginning to rile her up. "Em, let's just stick to the plan and not let Regina get to us. We are here for Henry."

"Alright. Let's go, I'm hungry."

* * *

After having a nice, light breakfast, Emma finds herself looking at the newspaper while Neal is outside taking in what this town has to offer. The story in the paper is mainly about the two of them hitting the town's sign.

"Here you go." The red hair waitress announces as she places a mug of hot chocolate with whipped cream and cinnamon in front of Emma.

"Thank you. But I didn't order that."

"Yeah, I know. You have an admirer."

Emma looks behind her to see Sheriff Graham sitting in a booth all alone. She decides to go and let him down easy.

"Ah, so you decided to stay." He says as she approaches him.

"Observant. Important for a cop."

"It's good news for our tourist business. It's bad for our local signage." By the look that Emma gives him, he begins to explain. "It's a joke because you ran over our sign."

"Listen, the cocoa was a nice gesture. And I'm impressed you guessed that I liked cinnamon on my chocolate since most people don't, but I'm not here to flirt. I have a boyfriend. So, thank you but no thank you."

"I didn't send it." He admits.

"I did." Emma turns to see Henry turn around in the booth he was sitting in. "I like cinnamon too."

"Don't you have school?" She asks, wondering why he was here instead of at school.

"Duh. I'm ten. Walk me."

"Alright, kid. Let's go." She relents.

They make their way outside and find Neal.

"Hey, bud. What's up? Wait, shouldn't you be in school?"

"We have to walk him to school."

As the three of them begin their walk to school, Emma decides that it is time to start doing what they are here to do. Find answers to the many questions that have come up in the past twenty-four hours.

"So what's the deal with you and your mom?"

"It's not about us. It's about her curse." Henry explains. "We have to break it. Luckily, I have a plan. Step one, identification. I call it Operation Cobra."

"Cobra? That has nothing to do with fairy tales."

"Yeah, how did you come up with that?" Neal asks.

"It's a code name. To throw the queen off the trail."

"So everyone here is a fairy tale character? They just don't know it." Emma rehashed.

"That's the curse. Time's been frozen until you got here." As Emma thinks everything over, she goes to take a bite out of the apple that Regina had given her this morning. "Hey. Where did you get that?"

"Your mom."

Henry grabs the apple from Emma and throws it behind them. "Don't eat that."

"Okay...Alright, what about their pasts?"

"They don't know. It's a haze to them. Ask anyone and you'll see."

"Wait, let me see if I got all this. So for decades, people have been walking around in a haze, not aging, with screwed up memories, stuck in a cursed town that kept them oblivious?" Neal asks, wondering if he got all of that right.

"I knew you guys would get it. That's why we need you." Henry says looking at Emma. "You're the only one that could stop her curse."

"Because I'm the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming?"

"Yes. And now, we have the advantage. My mom doesn't know that. I took out the end. The part with you in it. See, your mom is Snow White."

"Ah, kid."

"I know the hero never believes at first. If they did, it wouldn't be a very good story. If you need proof, take them, read them, but whatever you do, don't let her see these pages. They're dangerous. If she founds out who you are, it would be bad."

They have now arrived at the school. "I gotta go, but I'll find you after school. I knew you'd believe me."

"I never said I did."

"Why else would you be here?"

After taking notice of the smile on Henry's face as he walked into the school, Mary Margaret makes her way over to Neal and Emma. "It's good to see his smile back."

"We haven't really done anything." Neal admits.

"You stayed. Does the mayor know you're still here?"

"Oh, see knows. What is her deal? She's not a great people person. How did she get elected?"

"She's been mayor as long as I can remember. No one's ever been brave enough to run against her. She inspires quite a bit of, well, fear. I'm afraid I only made that worse by giving Henry that book. Now he thinks she's the Evil Queen."

"Who does he think you are?"

"Oh it's silly."

"I just got five minutes of silly. Lay it on me."

"Snow White." Emma's mouth drops open. "Who does he think you are?"

In a state of shock, she answers. "I'm not in the book. Can I ask you a favor? Regina mentioned that the kids in therapy, do you know where I can find the doctor?"

"Archie's office isn't too far from here. Just follow this road." Miss Blanchard tells them.

"Thank you." Neal replies as they part ways so that Mary Margaret can get to class. "What are you thinking about, Em?"

She turns to the man next to her and grabs his hand. "I think that Henry is wrong about all of this. I mean if he thinks that woman is Snow White, then there is no way that she could be my mother. She may not even be that much older than me."

"Well he did say that time in this place is frozen."

"Please don't tell me that you believe all of this."

"Come on, Em. Whether or not it is real, Henry thinks it is. We have to entertain the idea for his sake." Neal knew that things can go downhill if he revealed everything he actually knew to Emma. She probably wouldn't even believe him.

"Okay. Now let's go see Henry's shrink."

* * *

"Hey." Emma opens the door to Archie's room and steps inside with Neal behind her.

"Oh, Mr. Cassidy, Miss Swan. I was just reading about you." Archie says, holding up the town's newspaper. "Let me guess, you're here for help for a little post-traumatic stress. That diagnosis was free anyway."

"No, actually, we're here about Henry. We're a little concerned."

"I'm sorry, I really shouldn't..."

"I know. I'm sorry. Just tell me something. This fairy tale obsession, what is causing it? I mean he thinks everyone is a character from his book. That's crazy."

"I hope you don't talk that way in front of him. The word crazy is quite damaging. I mean these stories, they're his language. He knows no way to express complex emotions so he's translating them the best he can. It's how he communicates. He's using this book to help deal with his problems."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Hopper." Neal comes into the conversation.

"Please call me, Archie."

"Okay, Archie. He only got this book a month ago. What's going on with him? Has he been seeing you before any of this talk about fairy tales?"

"Um, yes he has."

"So it's Regina." Emma guesses. "Isn't it?"

"His mother is, uh, a very complicated woman." Archie responds, being very cautious about his choice of words. He also sounds hesitant to what he should and should not reveal to the people in front of him. "Over the years, her attempts to bring Henry closer have only backfired."

There is a silence in the room as no adult had any idea what to say next. Archie walks over to his cabinet and begins digging through it.

"Why don't you take a look at the file." He suggests. "Um, see what I mean."

"Why are you doing this?" Neal asks, cautiously, wondering why a doctor would be giving away information about one of his patients.

"Well he talks about you a lot. The two of you. But you're a part of his book." He looks to Emma. "You're very important to him."

"Thank you."

"Just see that I get it back, okay?"

Neal and Emma perplexed at the behavior of the doctor and what he has told them so far, slowly make their way to the door.

"Miss Swan. Mr. Cassidy. Just for the sake of the boy, be careful about the way you handle his belief system. Destroying his imagination would be devastating."

* * *

Emma and Neal make their way back to their room at the inn and begin going over the files. They mostly remain quiet as they each read different sections. Not too long into the reading, they here a knock at the door.

"Hey there." Emma greets while wondering why so many people are showing up at her front door. "If you're worried about the 'Do Not Disturb' signs, don't worry, I've left them alone."

"Actually, I'm here about Archibald Hopper. He mentioned that you got into a bit of a fight with him earlier."

"No."

"I'm shocked too. Given your shy, delicate sensibilities. He says you demanded to see Henry's file and when he refused, you came back and stole them."

"Excuse me, what?" Neal walks up to the door and looks at the sheriff. "That's not what happened. We didn't steal anything."

"He gave them to us." Emma adds.

"Alas, he's telling a different tale. May I check your room or must I get a search warrant?"

Emma gives up, knowing that there is no way out of this. She opens the door up wide and allows Graham inside. She leads him to the bed where all the papers lay. "This what you're looking for?"

"Well, you're very accommodating. I'm afraid Miss Swan and Mr. Cassidy, you two are under arrest. Again."

"What? We didn't do anything." Neal states as he watches Sheriff Graham handcuff Emma.

She looks into the sheriff's man. "You know we're being set up, don't you?"

"And who may I ask is setting you up?"

Emma says nothing knowing that it's not going to do any good blaming the mayor of the town even though she is sure that is who is setting them up right now. She just complies with the man and walks down to the station with him and her boyfriend who is following her also in handcuffs.

* * *

When Emma is getting her mug shot taken, she decides that it is time to voice her thoughts again, especially since she can see Neal pacing back and forth as he waits for his turn.

"You know the shrink is lying."

"To the right please." Graham orders as he continues taking her picture. "Why would he lie?"

"Because the mayor put him up to it. She's got to have something on him. He's terrified of her. Just as everyone else us in this time."

"To the left. Regina may be a tad intimidating but I don't think she would go as far as a frame job." Graham defends.

"How far would she go? What does she have her hands in?"

"She's the mayor. She has her hands in everything."

"Including the police force?" Neal asks from behind them.

The next thing they know, they all see Henry running in, followed by Miss Blanchard. "Hey."

"Henry, what are you doing here?" Graham questions, knowing that it can't go well for him if the mayor found out that her son was at the police station instead of where he is supposed to be, with Regina.

"His mother told him what happened." Mary Margaret explains.

"Well of course she did. Henry, I don't know what she said..."

"You're a genius." Henry interrupts.

"What?"

"What are you talking about, bud?"

Henry smiles. "I know what you two were up to. You were gathering intel for Operation Cobra."

"I'm sorry, I'm a bit lost." The sheriff admits.

The boy turns to the sheriff. "It's a need to know basis. And all you need to know is that Miss Blanchard is bailing my parents out."

"You are? Why?"

"Because I trust you."

"Well if you can uncuff me, I have something to do." Emma says, putting her hands out and waiting for the key that would get the metal off her wrists.

"Me too, please." Neal tells them.

* * *

After leaving the sheriff station, Neal and Emma split from Henry and Mary Margaret as Emma was a woman with a plan to get even with the mayor.

"Emma are you sure this is a good idea? I mean she is just going to keep going after us." Neal says.

"Yes, I'm sure. If we don't do this, then she will think that she has won. Once she thinks she's won, she'll believe she holds all the power."

"Okay, then. It's not like I can talk you out of it." Neal concedes as he sits back and watches Emma go to work, hacking down a branch of the mayor's apple tree with a chain saw.

It isn't long before the mayor herself leaves her office and approaches them after hearing all of the noise and seeing what was going on.

"What the hell are you doing?" Regina demands as she briskly makes her way over to Emma.

"Just picking apples." Emma replies, throwing the chainsaw to the floor.

"You're out of your mind."

"No you are if you think a spotty frame job is going to be enough to scare me off. You're going to have to do better than that. You come after us one more time, I'm coming back for this tree. Because, sister, you have no idea what I'm capable of."

Regina turns to Neal. "How could you let her do this?"

"There was no chance of stopping her. Once she has her mind made up, there is rarely anything I can do to stop it. Now if you'll excuse us, Madam Mayor, we'll just be going now." Neal answers as he puts his arm around Emma's shoulder and they begin to walk away.

"Your move." Emma calls.

* * *

The two of them are just walking into their room, when Granny approaches them.

"Mr. Cassidy, Miss Swan. Oh my, this is terribly awkward. I need to ask you to leave. I'm afraid we have a no felons rule. It turns out it's a city ordinance."

"Let me guess. The mayor's office just called to remind you."

"You two can gather your things but I need to have your room key back."

Knowing that Granny is doing nothing wrong except doing whatever the mayor asks her to, Emma hands over the key without a fight.

"How much more is she going to throw at us?"

"Well you did cut down her precious apple tree. I'd been surprised if she didn't come after us."

The two began gathering what little things they had brought into the room.

"This isn't over."

After gathering their things, they make their way out of the inn. When they look across the street, they also notice that a wheel lock on their car.

"You have got to be kidding me." Neal exclaims just as Emma's phone starts ringing.

"Yeah?" She answers.

"Miss Swan, I'd be happy to continue demonstrating my power, but am I right that you're result in staying is growing?"

"You have no idea." She mouths 'Regina' to Neal when he asks who it is.

"Well then, I think it's time we all made peace. Why don't you drive over to my office. Or walk, whatever suits you."

"Guess we're heading over to Madam Mayor's house."

* * *

"I'd like to start by apologizing."

"What?"

"I just have to accept the reality that you both want to be here."

"That's right we do." Neal says.

"And you're here to take my son from me."

"Okay, let's be clear. We have no intention of taking him from anyone." Emma argues.

"Yeah, he came to us. We aren't trying to steal him." Neal adds.

"Well, then why are you here?"

Emma is becoming so tired of all of this back and forth fighting. "I know I'm not a mother. I'm pretty sure that's self evident. But I did have him, and I can't get it out of my head that I just want to make sure he is okay."

"The more you try to push us out, the more we want to be here. Especially after noticing how troubled he is. We can relate to that." He mumbles the last part.

"You think he's troubled?"

"Well, he's in therapy. We only got through a couple of pages of the shrink's notes before you had us arrested. We'll put that aside for now. He thinks that everyone is this town is a fairy tale character."

"And you don't?"

"How can I? The kid can't tell the difference between fantasy and reality and it's only getting worse. It's crazy."

"You think I'm crazy?" They all turn around and see that Henry is standing there upset.

"Henry." Emma calls to him before he turns and runs away. It takes a second for Emma to hear the door slam, notifying them that the boy is gone. She becomes angry. "How long was he there?"

"Long enough."

"You knew he would be here, didn't you?"

"Did I know my son comes to my office at precisely five o'clock so I can take him to dinner before his therapy session? Of course I did. I'm his mother. Your move."

"You have no soul. How the hell did you get like this?" And with that Emma walks out of the room with Neal in tow.

* * *

When Mary Margaret opens the door, Emma gives a weak smile. "Hey. I just wanted to say thank you and pay you back the bail money."

"You look like you need to talk." She says. Mary Margaret allows Emma into her apartment. She goes into her kitchen and grabs a cup. "Here." She sets down the cup of hot chocolate in front of the blonde. "So where's Neal?"

"He's waiting downstairs so I really can't stay too long." She takes a sip of her cocoa. "Cinnamon?"

"Oh, I'm sorry I should have asked. It's a little quirk of mine. Do you mind?" Mary Margaret asks as she sets a plate of cookies down.

"Not at all." Emma sits down and takes a moment to relax for once all day. When you bailed me out, you said that you trusted me. Why?"

"It's strange. Ever since you got here, I've had the oddest feeling that we've met before. I mean, I know it's crazy."

"I'm starting to reevaluate my definition of crazy."

"For what's its worth, I think you're innocent."

"Of breaking and entering or just in general."

Mary Margaret gives her a smile. "Whichever makes you feel better."

"Doesn't really matter what everyone thinks I do or didn't do. I'm leaving. Neal and I decided that it's time to go. Thank you for everything, but I think it's for the best. If I stay, Henry's just going to keep getting hurt. "

"What happens when you go? I think the very fact that you want to leave is why you have to stay. You care about him. Who will protect Henry is you don't?"

There is a knock at the door. When Mary Margaret opens the door she finds Neal on the other side.

"Hi. I'm sorry, Emma was just taking awhile and I just wanted to make sure everything was alright."

"Everything is fine, Neal." Emma answers for Mary Margaret. "I just realized what we have to do now." She turns to the other woman. "Thank you for everything."

"You're welcome."

Neal and Emma leave the apartment and begin making their way down the stairs.

"What are we going to do, Em?"

"We're going to talk to Henry."

* * *

During Henry's session with Archie, Emma and Neal interrupt and walk in uninvited. "Miss Swan. Look I can explain. The mayor forced me..."

"I know. Don't worry about it. I get it. Henry I'm sorry."

"I don't want to talk to you."

"Miss Swan if she knew you were here..."

"To hell with her." Emma says as she takes Archie's original seat and looks to the boy in front of her.

"Henry, there is one simple reason we stayed here, you. We wanted to get to know you."

"You think. I'm crazy."

"No, bud. We don't. You're not crazy, it's just that all of this fairy tale talk is a lot to take in at once. We grew up and began thinking that they are only fantasies and here you are telling us that it's real." Neal explains.

"Yeah, I think this curse is crazy. And it is. But that doesn't mean it isn't true. It is a lot to ask anyone to believe in, but there are a lot of crazy things in this world. So what do we know? Maybe it is true."

"But you told my mom."

"What she needed to hear. What I do know is that if the curse is real, the only way to break it is by tricking the Evil Queen into thinking that we are non-believers. That way she is not on to us. Isn't that what Operation Cobra is all about. Throwing her off the trail."

"Brilliant."

"I've read the pages, and you're right Henry. They are dangerous. There is only one way to make sure she doesn't see them." Emma gets out of her seat and takes the pages and tosses them into the fire. "Now we have the advantage."

"I knew you were here to help me."

"That's right, kiddo. I am. And nothing, not even a curse, is going to stop that."

Henry runs over to Emma and wraps his arms around her. It takes her a second but she hugs him tightly to her. Neal, still standing on the side by Archie, just shares a smile with the doctor, happy that things are going well for the two in front of him.

The moment between mother and son is absolutely beautiful.

"Hey Neal." He looks up. "Come here."

He makes his way over and throws an arm around Emma and another around Henry. He presses a kiss to Emma's head, proud of her for everything she is doing for the boy next to him.

They all make their way out of Archie's office and just plan to take a walk together. Neal and Emma are walking hand in hand as they watched Henry in front of them, looking much happier.

They are all able to enjoy the moment once they see that they are going to be there for one another. To anyone who didn't know them, they would look like a happy family.


End file.
